Collapsible shelter structure

ABSTRACT

A collapsible shelter comprising a polyhedron in form and being formed of a unitary strip of substantially rigid sheet material, said strip comprising hinged triangular portions, said portions being so disposed as to have said strip arranged to form a sidewall and a top cover of said shelter and means releasably securing the abutting free edges of said portions.

[ Feb. 8, 1972 United States Patent Shotwell, Jr.

Aitken .....52/80 X 52/81 X ........52/70 ....52/81 X FosterNelson...............................

H 9 77 6666 9999 1.111 Ill, 8470 .l 6488 2679 1926 6734 ,93 3233 [54]COLLAPSIBLE SHELTER STRUCTURE [72] Inventor: Robert H. Shotwell, Jr.,11400 Valley Ct., Bumsville, Minn. 55378 Mar. 2, 1970 [22] Filed:

Primary ExaminerPrice C. Faw, Jr. AttorneyReif and Gregory [21] App].No.:

PATENTEU FEB 8 I972 SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTORv R0252? H. JHWWQL, 1e

COLLAPSIBLE SHELTER STRUCTURE BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to a collapsible shelter comprising a polyhedronin form in operative position and formed of a unitary strip havinghinged portions cooperating with one another to form a unitary shelterand foldable to be superposed upon one another in compact form fortransport and for storage.

Said shelter is readily formed of relatively thin, substantially rigidsheet material having good insulating and weather-resistingcharacteristics and being adapted to be collapsed in such compact formas to be readily handled and moved about and is readily erected.

It is an object of this invention therefore to provide a shelterpolyhedron in form comprising a unitary folding strip of material.

It is another object of this invention to provide a shelter comprised ofa unitary strip of material formed of hinged portions, said hinged.portions being adapted to be disposed with respect to one another toform a polyhedron figure.

More specifically it is an object of this invention to provide a sheltercomprising a foldable unitary strip of material formed of hingedportions, said portions respectively being triangular in form arrangedto be disposed with respect to one another to form a completely enclosedshelter comprising a polyhedronlike figure. These and other objects andadvantages of the invention will be set forth in the followingdescription made in connection with the accompanying drawings in whichlike reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews and in which FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views respectivelytaken substantially in front elevation and top plan;

FIG. 3 is a view in plan showing the form of the strip from which thestructure herein is formed;

FIG. 4 is a view in horizontal section on a magnified scale taken online 4-4 of FIG. 3 as indicated; and

FIG. 5 is a view in section similar to FIG. 4 showing a detail on amagnified scale.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings thestructure herein comprising a collapsible shelter is indicated generallyby the reference numeral 20.

The basic portion of said structure comprises an elongated strip 21formed of substantially rigid sheet material having good insulation andweather-resistant characteristics. Various types of insulating board orinsulating sheet material suitable for purposes herein are available onthe market. If desired, it is conventional within the art to apply aweather-resistant spray such as of liquid plastic material to thesurface of said strip.

Said strip is shown comprised of portions 1-15 triangular in form. Theportions 1-10 form the sidewall portions of said shelter and these areshown in the present embodiment in the form of isosceles triangles. Itwill be noted that the alternate portions of lhave inverted baseportions with respect to one another. The base edge portions 2a, 4a, 6aand 8a form the supporting edge portions for the adjacent and abuttingedges 12a-15a of the portions forming the top cover. The base portion10a is hingedly secured to the base portion 1 la.

The base edge portions la, 3a, 7a and 9a are of greater length than aresaid base edge portions 2a, 4a, 6a, 8a and 10a, thus permitting theportions of said strip forming the enclosing sidewall 23 of said shelterto be outwardly inclined downwardly to form an increased base area. Inpositioning said alternate portions 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, the base portion10a is brought around to an upward position to form support for the edgeof the base portion 11a which is hinged thereto and which forms the baseof the upper cover portion 11.

The portions 11-15 are respecu'vely in the form of equilateral trianglesas here shown to form a uniform or symmetrical top cover 24.

An air vent 26 is shown formed through the portion 15. Said air vent mayhave a protective cover disposed to extend thereabove.

With reference to FIG. 1, the adjacent edges of the portions 1-15 are asshown hingedly connected by connective members or hinges 25 which arehere indicated as being fonned of suitable weather-resistantself-adhesive tape overlying the adjacent inner and outer surface edgeportions of the adjacent portions as illustrated in FIG. 4. Suitableself-adhesive weather-resistant tape is available on the market.

With the shelter assembled for use, the adjacent abutting edge portions2a-12a, 4a-13a, 6a-I4a, 8a15a and llb-lSb will be suitably secured byreleasable securing means 27 here shown in one convenient form asremovable and disposable weather-resistant adhesive tape of sufficientwidth to overly adjacent free edge portions, as indicated in FIG. 5.

The hinged portion 1 will be used as in entrance to the shelter and willhave its edge portion lb suitably latched to the adjacent edge portion10b as by the use of securing means 29 here shown simply as a piece ofrope or its equivalent disposed through the apertures 28 and having itsfree ends secured together.

This shelter is assembled operative condition may be variously anchoredto the ground or to any suitable supporting surface such as by having asuitable number of tabs 35 secured to said shelter as illustrated withties extending therefrom to readily anchor said shelter to groundanchored stakes.

OPERATION ported.

To arrange said strip to form the assembled shelter, the strip isunfolded as illustrated in FIG. 3 and with the portion 1 forming oneend, the portion 10 is brought around in a circular path and in passingthrough said circular path the base edge 10b of said portion 10 will bebrought around to be disposed in a substantially vertical position tohave abutting engagement with edge portion lb. Thus it is seen theportions 11-15 will be elevated to form an upper layer of portionswhereby the edges 12a-l5 are supported in abutting engagement by theedges 2a, 4a, 6a and 8a therebelow. The free edge 15b will abut the freeedge 1 1b and the free edge 15a will abut the base edge 8a. The freeabutting edges will be suitably secured as previously described. Thusthere is formed a top cover 24 for the shelter in supporting engagementwith respect to the enclosing sidewall 23 to form a symmetrical shelterformed substantially as a polyhedron figure. It will be understood thatvarious means may be provided for anchoring the shelter other than thesimple means here described.

No dimensions have been given herein as size is a matter of choice. Thedimensions of portions may readily be determined in view of a desiredoverall size.

Thus it is seen that the invention herein comprises a compact readilyassembled and readily collapsed shelter which provides cover fromseasonal weather conditions and as assembled forms a shelter ofsubstantial structural strength.

It will of course be understood that various changes may be made in theform, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention herein which, generallystated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects setforth above, in the parts and combination of parts disclosed.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable collapsible shelter structure comprising an integralelongated strip consisting of hingedly connected triangular portions.

some of said portions being arranged and adapted to be disposed to forman upwardly inclined enclosing sidewall,

said portions forming said sidewall being in the form of isoscelestriangles having hinged adjacent sides and the alternate of saidportions having inverted bases with respect to one another,

the remainder of said portions being arranged and adapted to be disposedto form a top cover and being in the form of equilateral triangles witheach side thereof having a length equal to the length of a base of saidisosceles triangular portions,

The underlying sides of said portions forming said top cover beingsupported by abutting engagement with the adjacent supporting baseportions of said portions forming

1. A portable collapsible shelter structure comprising an integralelongated strip consisting of hingedly connected triangular portions,some of said portions being arranged and adapted to be disposed to forman upwardly inclined enclosing sidewall, said portions forming saidsidewall being in the form of isosceles triangles having hinged adjacentsides and the alternate of said portions having inverted bases withrespect to one another, the remainder of said portions being arrangedand adapted to be disposed to form a top cover and being in the form ofequilateral triangles with each side thereof having a length equal tothe length of a base of said isosceles triangular portions, theunderlying sides of said portions forming said top cover being supportedby abutting engagement with the adjacent supporting base portions ofsaid portions forming said sidewall, and means releasably securing saidabutting side and base portions.
 2. The structure set forth in claim 1,wherein said sidewall comprises 10 isosceles triangular portions andsaid top cover comprises four equilateral triangles, whereby saidsidewall portions are disposed to form a circular enclosure and said topcover portions are disposed to be supported thereon.